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1972 British League season

The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.

Summary

Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed due to extra football fixtures and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams.

Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points.

Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries.

Leicester won the Midland Cup and Reading won the Spring Gold Cup. There was no London Cup due to there being only two teams following the demise of West Ham and Wembley.

Final table

<small>M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points</small>

Fixtures and results

Top ten riders (league averages)

British League Knockout Cup

The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 21 October.

  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, ex=excluded

Final leading averages

Midland Cup

Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Leicester won on aggregate 82–74

Spring Gold Cup

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue

  • 11.36
  • 8.92
  • 8.44
  • 8.20
  • 6.72
  • 6.68
  • 5.56
  • 5.11

Coventry

  • 9.23
  • 8.10
  • 7.07
  • 6.85
  • 5.61
  • 5.33
  • 5.19
  • 4.52
  • 4.14

Cradley Heath

  • 10.27
  • 7.30
  • 6.95
  • 4.90
  • 4.61
  • 4.57
  • 3.73
  • 2.00
  • 0.91

Exeter

  • 9.89
  • 8.23
  • 6.29
  • 6.06
  • 5.85
  • 5.75
  • 5.28
  • 4.89
  • 4.00
  • 1.18

Glasgow

  • 8.86
  • 8.58
  • 8.41
  • 6.91
  • 4.94
  • 4.00
  • 3.72
  • 3.47
  • 2.09
  • 1.82

Hackney

  • 9.38
  • 7.79
  • 6.38
  • 6.32
  • 6.27
  • 6.24
  • 5.78
  • 4.00
  • 3.20

Halifax

  • 10.36
  • 8.16
  • 7.39
  • 5.87
  • 5.70
  • 5.36
  • 4.03
  • 3.57
  • 3.53

Ipswich

  • 9.39
  • 7.78
  • 7.67
  • 6.96
  • 5.07
  • 4.61
  • 4.46
  • 4.35

King's Lynn

  • 10.51
  • (Kid Bodie) 8.94
  • 8.36
  • 7.30
  • 6.21
  • 5.72
  • 5.47
  • 4.75
  • 4.33

Leicester

  • 10.14
  • 9.46
  • 8.68
  • 4.98
  • 4.81
  • 4.47
  • 3.93
  • 3.25

Newport

  • 7.45
  • 7.15
  • 6.41
  • 5.28
  • 4.49
  • 4.36
  • 3.75
  • 3.49

Oxford

  • 9.24
  • 7.97
  • 6.49
  • 6.25
  • 5.14
  • 4.81
  • 4.37
  • 3.64
  • 3.00

Poole

  • 8.90
  • 8.00
  • 6.71
  • 6.47
  • 5.75
  • 5.42
  • 4.66

Reading

  • 10.51
  • 8.78
  • 7.73
  • 7.07
  • 6.38
  • 6.24
  • 5.02
  • 3.77

Sheffield

  • 8.85
  • 8.81
  • 7.46
  • 7.34
  • 7.15
  • 7.15
  • 6.33

Swindon

  • 10.38
  • 10.08
  • 6.08
  • 4.88
  • 4.62
  • 4.21
  • 3.88
  • 3.56
  • 2.00

Wimbledon

  • 10.34
  • 8.13
  • 7.45
  • 5.02
  • 4.45
  • 3.96
  • 3.53
  • 3.26
  • 1.71

Wolverhampton

  • 11.39
  • 7.76
  • 6.67
  • 5.88
  • 4.59
  • 4.04
  • 3.75
  • 1.65

See also

References